Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)
"Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht" (original title)

Jonathan and Lucy live in Wismar and the Count wants a house there. Varna is a port on the Black Sea, close to Dracula's castle.

Director:

Werner Herzog

Writer:

Werner Herzog

Stars:

Klaus Kinski, Isabelle Adjani, Bruno Ganz

5 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Klaus Kinski	...	Count Dracula
Isabelle Adjani	...	Lucy Harker
Bruno Ganz	...	Jonathan Harker
Roland Topor	...	Renfield
Walter Ladengast	...	Dr. Van Helsing
Dan van Husen	...	Warden
Jan Groth	...	Harbormaster
Carsten Bodinus	...	Schrader
Martje Grohmann	...	Mina
Rijk de Gooyer	...	Town official (as Ryk de Gooyer)
Clemens Scheitz	...	Clerk
Lo van Hensbergen	...	Harbormaster's Assistent
John Leddy	...	Coachman
Margiet van Hartingsveld	...	Vrouw
Tim Beekman	...	Coffinbearer

Storyline

Jonathan Harker is sent away to Count Dracula's castle to sell him a house in Varna, where Jonathan lives. But Count Dracula is a vampire, an undead ghoul living off of men's blood. Inspired by a photograph of Lucy Harker, Jonathan's wife, Dracula moves to Varna, bringing with him death and plague... An unusually contemplative version of Dracula, in which the vampire bears the curse of not being able to get old and die.

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Plot Keywords:

dracula | vampire | castle | plague | blood | 

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

West Germany France

Language:

English German Romany

Release Date:

17 January 1979 (France)

Also Known As:

Nosferatu the Vampyre

Filming Locations:

Bavaria, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Werner Herzog Filmproduktion, Gaumont, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min 96 min (theatrical)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The whole crew comprised 16 people - twice as many as Werner Herzog had when he shot Aguirre: The Wrath of God.

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Goofs

When Harker rides his horse to the Count's town, his horse has a white bandage on its left front leg that appears and disappears repeatedly from one shot to the next. Although the journey to the town took 4 weeks to complete, it is highly unlikely that the horse would get injured, heal, and then get injured in the same spot again. Apparently two different horses were used.

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Quotes

Warden: The patient that came in yesterday is having a fit.
Van Helsing: Which one?
Warden: The one that bit the cow.

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Connections

Version of Dracula: The Musical (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Sanctus"
from "Messe solennelle en l'honneur de Sainte Cécile (Cäcilienmesse)"
Music by Charles Gounod
Performed by Vokal-Ensemble Gordela
Conducted by Jean-Claude Hartemann (uncredited)

User Reviews

Stunning!!

I just purchased this on DVD and its easily one of my favorite new disks. Included in the DVD masterpiece are: the English Version, the German Version with English subtitles, audio commentary by director Werner Herzog, 2 different US theatrical trailers, 1 Spanish theatrical trailer and even a making of the movie mini-feature!!! Very worth the money!!!

This is not an average movie by any means!!! It also appears to be a salute to the great German Expressionist films of the early 1900's. The story line is very intelligent and compassionate. The dialogue is spoken very soft and slowly. There is not very much action in the film, but the performances and cinematography are nothing short of breathtaking!!

Klaus Kinski plays a very convincing Dracula in this 1979 classic. His slow movements are almost hypnotizing!!! Just watch how he moves his hands!! They move so slow and very mysterious!! The guy who played the "nut case" was great!! The images of coffins, crucifixes, rats, and how rumors of the plague were spreading were brilliantly executed.

If you liked this film, you might want to check out 1992's "The Cronos" for another example of a compassionate and intelligent story about Vampires, but set in Mexico. Both films explore the "humanistic" internal conflict in vampires.